James Milner became the Premier League’s all-time record appearance holder in a brilliant 2-0 Brighton win at high-flying Brentford, easing the pressure on boss Fabian Hurzeler.
First-half goals from Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck ended the Seagulls’ six-game winless run and crowned Milner’s record-breaking 654th top-flight appearance in a victory that dented Brentford’s European hopes.
The Bees’ remain seventh, but open the door for eighth-placed Everton to leapfrog them into a Conference League place, while Brighton rise two places to 12th in the table.
A reinvigorated Seagulls side were on top from the off. Caoimhin Kelleher almost spilled a speculative Jack Hinshelwood effort into his own net, before the Irishman had to save the Bees blushes just two minutes later with a smart save from a close-range Kaoru Mitoma effort.
Brentford, though, almost took the lead against the run of play when Thiago latched onto an over the top pass only to blaze over Bart Verbruggen’s net, and the home side were made to pay when Gomez converted the rebound from Ferdi Kadioglu’s beautiful curling effort to give the away side the lead after half an hour.
Brighton continued to control proceedings, but were gifted their second when first-half sub Nathan Collins mis-kicked a tame Pascal Gross cross into the direction of Welbeck, who poked home with aplomb from point-blank range.
Brentford’s chances were few and far between in the second period – a late own goal scare from Joel Veltman was the only blip in a fantastic defensive performance from centre-back tandem Jan Paul van Hecke and Lewis Dunk that guided Brighton to their first away win since November, and just their second in the league in 2026.
In numbers: Milner breaks Premier League appearance record
Milner: It will be nice to stop talking about the record!
Premier League all-time record appearance holder James Milner:
“It will be nice to stop talking about it – especially when it was so important to get the win today.
“I just always want to play a part in the team improving, getting better and winning games.
“To pass the mark is a big number. It is not something I’ve concentrated on. There has been a lot of talk around it but anyone who knows me knows it is all about the team.
“It is a good opportunity to give a nod to everyone that has helped me, the sacrifices they’ve made for me.
“The family, friends and people that have worked with me, sports physios and people like that.
“I have been fortunate to get there and work with a lot of good clubs and people. Just so happy to get the win today.”
Story of the match in stats…
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
